The Redevelopment Agency approved a redevelopment agreement with developers of the Center Circle site on Main Street that would pay a fee of $1,750 per unit, contingent on a 30-year Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) agreement to be voted upon by City Council tomorrow night.

The agency unanimously adopted a resolution during its monthly public meeting on Jan. 10 authorizing a redevelopment agreement with 1255 Main St., LLC, a single-entity LLC established by AST Development.

The redeveloper will pay the agency a development fee of $1,750 per unit, totaling $383,250 for 219 units. Half of that ($191,625) would be paid upon issuance of foundation permits and the remainder would be paid upon issuance of the first certificate of occupancy (CO). The fee negotiated is slightly higher than that which previous developments paid, Deputy Redevelopment Agency Director and City Administrator Cherron Rountree told commissioners.

For example, the redevelopment agreement for the 45-unit Gramercy project on East Cherry Street stipulates a fee of $1,000 per unit, paid in three installments (a quarter upon execution of the agreement, another quarter upon issuance of demolition permits, and the remaining half upon the first CO issued. A redevelopment agreement approved in 2013 for the Brownstones project on the former Wheatena property also stipulated a $1,000 per unit fee. The redevelopment fee for Meridia Lafayette Village at Main and Monroe streets was a flat $100,000.

The redevelopment agreement is contingent upon the city granting a 30-year PILOT agreement. City Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution authorizing a PILOT during a special public meeting scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. I filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) last week for a copy of the PILOT application and will post it here once it is released. The financial agreement and PILOT application can be found here. City Council will hold a public hearing and final adoption of the ordinance at its Feb. 12 meeting.

The redevelopment agreement also stipulates that the redeveloper will cover the cost and expense of improvements to the realignment of the shared driveway right-of-way from Main Street to the end of the property line as well as off-site improvements to the repair the police station parking area retaining wall, although the resolution doesn’t specify the details of the cost.

The agency evaluated the redeveloper’s proposal “according to criteria which included financial capabilities, experience, expertise, and project concept descriptions and determined to commence negotiations with the redeveloper to enter into a redevelopment agreement and designated as redeveloper of the project, according to the resolution.

AST Development proposed a five-story building with 219 rental units and 274 parking spaces — 195 ground-level garage spaces and about 79 surface parking spaces — on the 3.5-acre property at 1255 Main St. The developer also would be responsible for construction of street lighting, landscaping, sidewalk and other improvements on the property. The Lavallette-based firm received Planning Board approval in January 2017 for a 219-unit complex on the former Center Circle site, the sale of which closed in December.

The 219 rentals would include about 116 one-bedroom units, 78 two-bedroom units and 25 studio apartments.